Gray is fairly fast for a tank, but he instead prefers Attack to help him punch through enemies. Defense is also a great skill have increased, as it boosts the damage of his Ignis as well and makes it easier for him to keep above various HP thresholds. He does not need his HP or Resistance, making them ideal dump stats for him.

Boons

+ATK: Attack is one of the best boons for Gray. He appreciates every point of Attack he can get as an Attack boon lets him OHKO Winter Tharja, an important matchup for his Anti-Armor set.

+DEF: A Defense boon is also fantastic for him, making Gray more sturdy and his Ignis stronger. It also lets him beat Ayra and Cordelia’s more popular builds.

Neutral

SPD: Gray is not a particularly speedy swordsman and with skills such as Quick Riposte to cover his Speed, it is not an impactful stat for him.

Banes

-HP: HP does affect Gray’s physical defenses, but since he already has high HP he can afford to lose some. Weapon refines also give Gray additional HP.

-RES: Gray does poorly against mages and so Resistance is his best choice of bane.

Gray is at his best with Armorsmasher in hand. With his high Attack, decent Speed and solid Defense he can duel them easily with the right skills. This build is designed to have Gray double with the second hit triggering his Ignis Special to utterly decimate foes. Due to Steady Breath and Close Def, this build is defensively inclined and should see Gray choose to have foes initiate onto him.

Ignis is a powerful but slow-charging special, and Gray requires the Steady Breath skill in order to guarantee it firing in any given round. Fury is the next best thing for Gray, due to it’s all-around stat boost. If Fury is chosen over Steady Breath, Gray will not be able to charge the mighty Ignis and should settle for Bonfire instead.

There are many powerful Red and Green Armored units, so Gray should instead ditch his Zanbato in favour of an Armorsmasher. With a Defensive Refine and Close Def, Gray will have the Defense required to survive Bold Fighter assaults. His Assist skill should be either Reposition or Swap, as they let him support allies with low mobility. Both Def Smoke and Spur Def/Res are great choices if you have Gray paired up with tanky allies.

Gray can also wield a Slaying Edge in a sustain tank set. This build lets Gray survive over multiple battles thanks to healing from Aether. He can also use his Zanbato with this set, but he will have to compromise heavily in order to do so. With Aether, he aims to keep above the HP threshold for Guard and Quick Riposte.

The core elements of this set are Steady Breath, Aether and Quick Riposte. This combination allows Gray to charge and fire Aether off within a single round of combat. If Gray uses a Zanbato, he will have to run Quickened Pulse, and he will only be able to perform the single-round Aether once.

Gray needs to use Quick Riposte on this set, but he can use it in either his B slot skill or his Seal slot. It’s recommended to take it in his Seal slot and run Guard. This lets Gray prevent powerful specials that would threaten his life. It is also possible to run Quick Riposte in B slot and opt for Close Def instead. A cheaper choice Swordbreaker, but make sure it is paired with Quick Riposte in his Seal slot.

Once again Gray can make great use of Reposition and Swap, especially if he has low-mobility allies such as armored units. Attack Smoke is excellent, especially if you wish to defeat multiple foes in the same turn. With their Attack debuffed, Gray finds it a lot easier to keep above the HP thresholds he needs to keep Guard and Quick Riposte active.

Introduction

Gray hails from Fire Emblem Gaiden/Shadows of Valentia and is one of the Ram village members. In Fire Emblem Heroes, he is a stocky swordsman with great Attack and well-rounded stats. Gray is too slow to be a decent offensive swordsman and performs best as a defensive unit.

Although he suffers from a lot of slot competition as a red sword-wielding unit, Gray separates himself by having an extremely well-rounded statline. Few units have his mix of Attack, Speed and Defense. Gray also has excellent HP, solidifying his bulk and making him tough to KO with physical weapons.

For most people however, Gray is both rare and expensive to build. Those looking for a powerful swordsman will find alternatives in free units who arguable outperform the Wry Comrade. However, those with the drive and resources to build Gray will not be disappointed at his peak performance.

Strengths

Great physical statline.

Gray has a stellar 35 Attack, which he combines with 43 HP and 30 Defense to give him an exceptionally well-rounded statline. It is rare for units to have a strong mix of Attack, Speed and Defense. 35 Attack is particularly good, as it helps Gray cut through the Defense of tough armored units who stand in his way.

Fairly good Speed.

Most units with high Attack and Defense suffer from a low Speed, but Gray is the exception. Although 32 is not exactly high, it is a great defensive tier which saves him from a lot of double attacks. He is even fast enough to double some slower foes in the player phase.

Weaknesses

Low Resistance.

Gray’s statline leaves him with one weakness, which is his base 22 Resistance. This makes his matchups against dragons and mages much tougher, as he does not possess enough Speed to protect him from double attacks from faster foes. Gray is also very susceptible to Ploy skills which can greatly reduce his combat effectiveness.

Suffers from heavy slot competition.

It is no secret that red swords are dime a dozen, and many powerful units have been given out for free. Masked Marth and the Black Knight are two units with powerful legendary weapons and stellar statlines who outperform Gray in most situations. Having such a well-rounded statline means that Gray lacks a solid niche compared to other units.

Team Options

Gray requires teammates who can handle magical opponents for him, as he is otherwise weak against many of the mages in the game. His ability to handle Armor is a godsend for his allies, and means that Gray provides very valuable coverage to blue and green tanks. Being a defensive unit himself, he works best in a tanky core of units where he can remove problem threats from the enemy team.

Distant Counter Greens: These units have strong synergy with Gray, as they can easily KO the blue mages that give Gray trouble. In return, Gray can tackle the red armored units that they cannot. Examples include Hector, Valentine’s Hector, Sheena, Dorcas, and Fae.

Dragons: Blue Dragons are a great partner to Gray, offering both type coverage and the ability to handle ranged units that Gray cannot. Nowi and Corrin-F are the best choices, with Ninian a distant third.

Anti-Mage units: Strong anti-mages like Felicia, Faye, or Berkut’s Lance users like Florina and Effie can cover many of the mages that threaten to KO Gray.

Counters

Gray’s number one threat are mages who can easily outspeed and double him thanks his middling Speed. Gray also has trouble with some powerful offensive units, who can either shortcut his counterattack with Firesweep Weapons or outright KO him.

Firesweep Weapon Users: Firesweep lancers are common and can easily double + decimate Gray, especially if they run Chill Def. Tana, Shanna and Cordelia are common Firesweep lance users. Bridal Cordelia and Brave Lyn are commonly seen with the Firesweep Bow, and Elincia with the Firesweep Sword.

Mages: Blue mages are deadliest to Gray, but red and even some green ones can cause him significant pain. Mounted mages in particular have a huge threat range, forcing Gray to play very carefully. Reinhardt, Gunnthra, L’Arachel, Eirika (SM), and Olwen are all bad news for Gray.

Bold Fighter: Gray has exceptional physical defenses, but some units with Bold Fighter can easily punch through his defenses. He must be wary of Bold Fighter variants of the Black Knight, Halloween Jakob and Zelgius.

User Submitted Builds

One of my best pitybreakers is Gray. Got him from a banner long ago. I was pretty surprised that I got him on a banner where he’s not even a focus unit. His ivs is +def, -res. Not really bad for me cause he it does make him sturdy. This is how i’m gonna build Gray.
For his weapon I prefer his default zanbato. I like the bonus damage against cavalry. He can deal good amounts of damage when fighting cavalry units. And for refinement I prefer the anti cavalry refine. It will allow him to fight cavalry units while ignoring their buffs like fortify or hone buffs. Most notably hone cavalry and fortify cavalry buffs. Spur buffs are the only exception though.
For his assist skill his default swap is preferred to change places with an ally.
For his special bonfire is preferred since he has the defense to utilize it well.
For his A skill fury is preferred to give him a well rounded stat boost. Though at a cost of suffering 6 damage after combat. I used to hate this skill because I always thought the 6 damage is problematic, but now when I realize the benefits of fury’s stat boost and the fact that the 6 damage is barely a flaw makes me start liking fury now.
For the B skill swordbreaker is preferred to allow him do double sword units. This is especially useful against the infamous Ayra and Mia who are super fast. I know fury 3 and swordbreaker don’t go well together but I don’t think it ain’t bad sometimes.
For his C skill threaten spd is preferred to allow him to avoid getting doubled and to increase his chances of doubling foes. His default sword valor I only use during grinding for sp for other sword units I want to work on.
Overall I think Gray is a fun unit to have. Although his weapon may be niche I like it cause horse teams are sometimes common and this weapon does allow him to deal damage to them. And although I have many sword units that i’d use over him, he still has his uses.

Gray becomes a speedy tank with this build, allowing him to duel melee threats and often take minimal damage, while striking back harder with Bonfire.

Weapon: Zanbato+ (+Def) is a good choice for Gray. Other weapons with Def refinements, such as Armorslayer+ or Slaying Edge+ are great as well, depending on what you plan to have Gray counter.

Assist: Reciprocal Aid lets Gray borrow HP from his allies to stay healthy in order to gain his Earth Boost bonus. Any movement skill like Reposition or his default Swap are acceptable alternatives.

Special: Bonfire or Ignis are great for Gray, since it can capitalize on his high Def to deal significant damage.

A Skill: Earth Boost 3 is a good budget option for Gray, since his HP is on the higher end, and the cavalry opponents he would usually be fighting against (using his Zanbato+) often won’t have enough HP to disable Earth Boost. Steady Stance or Steady Breath are somewhat more expensive but more reliable options.

B Skill: Renewal 3 is used here for the sake of healing up to trigger Earth Boost. However, Quick Riposte is an excellent option if Earth Boost isn’t being used.

C Skill: Atk Smoke 3 synergizes well with Gray, as it will allow him to tank stronger opponents who would run up to him.

Sacred Seal: Close Def 3 further boosts his defense against physical melee foes. An HP +5 or Def +3 seal can be used instead to improve his performance as well.

The true MVP of Ram Village, Gray's base kit may be pretty bad, but since he's a Trainee type unit, his BST is insane. This build is basically if you took Nephenee, and traded some Defense for more Attack. Desperation is Budget, but if you want to, Wrath is for sure a viable option, giving you +20 to your 16 Bonfire damage. If wanted, defensive Refinery can be take as well for more Special damage and tanking, but is up to the Player's choice.

I prefer to play ZANBATO + (DEF) instead of the other to tank more and to do more damage with Bonfire. I prefer SWAP over Draw Back and the other, that permet Gray to repositioning him well and to easily take the front.

I prefer BONFIRE over Ignis for the cooldown of 3. BONFIRE will do great damage too with the 40 Defense of Gray.

57 HP is pretty hard too beat so FIRE BOOST will be pretty good that you defend or you attack. VANTAGE is always good and that will satifsfy you too kill the ennemy with your Gray that have 1 HP cause of VANTAGE. We use the great among of HP of our friend too use INFANTRY PULSE too help our allies. And for the last, I prefer to use the seal Close Def too be moaaaaaarrrrrrr tanky.
Final Stats (Without counting Fire Boost and Close Def) :
HP : 57
Atk : 58
Spd : 38
Def : 40
Res : 25

PS: Sorry for my bad(?) English, i'm french so excuse me and I hope you will like this build \^w^/ <3